ur performance, not your promises. Valuable employees manage to escape much of the corporate shake ups, even when the shake ups hit their home turf. Create a reputation for being someone who delivers value and you’ll add a lot of staying power to your career.

NURTURE YOUR NETWORK
Do you maintain relationships with a diverse group of people—from close friends to casual business acquaintances? Or is

A 5 POINT STRATEGY FOR ENSURING YOUR JOB SECURITY

Think Job Security is a thing of the past? Think again. While it may be true that no one is exempt from a downsizing, layoff, or unexpected re-organization in today’s economic climate, that doesn’t have to mean you have no job security. Today’s workers simply need to redefine what job security really is given the competitive environment we live in, and where security comes from. You can (and should) have a sense of job security, but it won’t come from your employer. You must give it to yourself. Your number one priority, if you wish to have career longevity and fulfillment, is to remain highly employable. Here’s a proven 5 point strategy to ensure you have security in an uncertain job economy.

1. Under-promise, over-deliver
2. Nurture Your Network
3. Invest in Your Competence
4. Have a Plan B and Plan C Ready to Execute
5. Build Your Reserves

UNDER PROMISE and OVER DELIVER
The first strategy is simply to outperform your peers. Under promising may sound like a lethal career strategy, but in reality it’s the opposite, as long as you consistently over deliver. Bosses and peers become most frustrated with those who make empty promises, right? These are the people who OVER promise and then consistently UNDER perform. By getting really skilled at setting reasonable expectations, building in time for the unexpected (which you can almost always expect!), and then meeting or beating every agreed upon target, how much does that increase your value to the organization? Lots. People want to know what to expect and be wowed. Wow! them with your performance, not your promises. Valuable employees manage to escape much of the corporate shake ups, even when the shake ups hit their home turf. Create a reputation for being someone who delivers value and you’ll add a lot of staying power to your career.

NURTURE YOUR NETWORK
Do you maintain relationships with a diverse group of people—from close friends to casual business acquaintances? Or is

ere security comes from. You can (and should) have a sense of job security, but it won’t come from your employer. You must give it to yourself. Your number one priority, if you wish to have career longevity and fulfillment, is to remain highly employable. Here’s a proven 5 point strategy to ensure you have security in an uncertain job economy.

1. Under-promise, over-deliver
2. Nurture Your Network
3. Invest in Your Competence
4. Have a Plan B and Plan C Ready to Execute
5. Build Your Reserves

UNDER PROMISE and OVER DELIVER
The first strategy is simply to outperform your peers. Under promising may sound like a lethal career strategy, but in reality it’s the opposite, as long as you consistently over deliver. Bosses and peers become most frustrated with those who make empty promises, right? These are the people who OVER promise and then consistently UNDER perform. By getting really skilled at setting reasonable expectations, building in time for the unexpected (which you can almost always expect!), and then meeting or beating every agreed upon target, how much does that increase your value to the organization? Lots. People want to know what to expect and be wowed. Wow! them with your performance, not your promises. Valuable employees manage to escape much of the corporate shake ups, even when the shake ups hit their home turf. Create a reputation for being someone who delivers value and you’ll add a lot of staying power to your career.

NURTURE YOUR NETWORK
Do you maintain relationships with a diverse group of people—from close friends to casual business acquaintances? Or is

r> 3. Invest in Your Competence
4. Have a Plan B and Plan C Ready to Execute
5. Build Your Reserves

UNDER PROMISE and OVER DELIVER
The first strategy is simply to outperform your peers. Under promising may sound like a lethal career strategy, but in reality it’s the opposite, as long as you consistently over deliver. Bosses and peers become most frustrated with those who make empty promises, right? These are the people who OVER promise and then consistently UNDER perform. By getting really skilled at setting reasonable expectations, building in time for the unexpected (which you can almost always expect!), and then meeting or beating every agreed upon target, how much does that increase your value to the organization? Lots. People want to know what to expect and be wowed. Wow! them with your performance, not your promises. Valuable employees manage to escape much of the corporate shake ups, even when the shake ups hit their home turf. Create a reputation for being someone who delivers value and you’ll add a lot of staying power to your career.

NURTURE YOUR NETWORK
Do you maintain relationships with a diverse group of people—from close friends to casual business acquaintances? Or is

ises, right? These are the people who OVER promise and then consistently UNDER perform. By getting really skilled at setting reasonable expectations, building in time for the unexpected (which you can almost always expect!), and then meeting or beating every agreed upon target, how much does that increase your value to the organization? Lots. People want to know what to expect and be wowed. Wow! them with your performance, not your promises. Valuable employees manage to escape much of the corporate shake ups, even when the shake ups hit their home turf. Create a reputation for being someone who delivers value and you’ll add a lot of staying power to your career.

NURTURE YOUR NETWORK
Do you maintain relationships with a diverse group of people—from close friends to casual business acquaintances? Or is

ur performance, not your promises. Valuable employees manage to escape much of the corporate shake ups, even when the shake ups hit their home turf. Create a reputation for being someone who delivers value and you’ll add a lot of staying power to your career.

NURTURE YOUR NETWORK
Do you maintain relationships with a diverse group of people—from close friends to casual business acquaintances? Or is your social life basically built around the coffee pot and bagel box at work? When faced with changing jobs (by choice or not), it is important that you have strong, reliable network in place. You don’t want to be building up relationships at a time when you need them most…it drains your energy and looks and feels too desperate! You want to continually work toward having strong relationships with a variety of contacts because you enjoy them and they enjoy you. These relationships are in the spirit of helping whenever it’s needed. You may include professional contacts within and outside your employer, as well as a diverse group of acquaintances through community, school, and social circles. Stay plugged in with others. It can make the difference between a long and difficult job search, and a smooth job change.

INVEST IN YOUR COMPETENCE
Staying current in your field is critical to long term employability—a.k.a. ‘security’. If your employer provides some of this, great! Take them up on it. But if they don’t (as many are cutting back here), take it upon yourself. Create your own professional development plan. Find professional associations, training programs, published material (books, internet sites, magazines and journals, etc…) and/or mentors/peers that can help you stay abreast of trends and issues impact your field, industry and geographical area. In order to be employable (whether at your current employer or somewhere else), you have to be current and be able to talk about future trends. If your most recent ‘update’ to your knowledge, skills, or abilities was the day you walked down the aisle to pick up yo